Innovative billboards
17-6-2013
IBM has designed special innovative billboards to promote its ‘Smart Cities Program’ in partnership with Ogilvy & Mather France. These billboards do not only have an informative function but function as useful surfaces as well. The billboards can be used as a bench, a shelter from the rain or a ramp over stairs. The aim of the project is to encourage smarter thinking when it comes to the development of ‘solutions’ for the city.
Public painting machine
17-6-2013
A nice gimmick for vacant shop-premises! German artist Niklas Roy developed the Public Painting Machine in collaboration with Kati Hyyppä. The Public Painting Machine was placed in vacant shop-premises in Poland. People on the street could pull the ropes to create an artwork. This pop-up art store causes a lot of fun and bustle in the shopping street.
Amsterdam water promotions
14-6-2013
‘Waternet’ organizes activities on the water in Amsterdam to ask the attention for the importance of clean water in the canals. During Queens day the ‘Emergency Boot’ with toilets was launched. This boot prevented that people would pee in the canals or on the street. Three islands with toilets floated at the center of the water. Useful during the watersport season or when there are events on the water!
‘Waternet’ will do an activation on the canals to launch the ‘canal website’ on Saturday June 15. A photo boat of ‘Waternet’ floats around in the Amstel River in Amsterdam and takes photos of people with their boat. The pictures can be found on the ‘canal website’ and the most popular photo will be enlarged on canvas. The canal website contains tips, experiences, photos but also information about terraces and water events.
Welcoming gestures to kids by the NY Public Library
11-6-2013
PSFK placed great pictures of the new NY Library in Harlem where teenagers can interact, play video games, eat snacks, and hang out without having to worry about parents’ or elders’ eyes watching. Harlem’s Hamilton Grange branch is home to this full-floor 4,400-square-foot hangout space specially dedicated to teenagers. There only two librarians on watch from one end of the room. The space includes a 20-foot-diameter glass wall where they can play Wii and Guitar Hero available with special speakers preventing much of the noise from filtering out. The NY Public Library also provides summer readings for kids. Watch the movie for this hospitable gesture to kids. Getting the kids back into the library and sharing reading experience online.
More information at New York Libraries.
Scrabble Wi-Fi
5-6-2013
In Paris you can get free Wi-Fi by playing Scrabble on your phone. Paris has got quite a lot of places where Wi-Fi is not available, so Ogilvy Paris introduced the game Scrabble Wi-Fi. Scrabble placed three Wi-Fi hotspots in the city where correct spelling and creative use of language was rewarded. Create any word using up to seven letters for the password and the score will be converted into free Wi-Fi minutes. So the higher your score, the longer the connection.
Mobile Orchard
30-5-2013
A special art object has been commissioned as the centerpiece installation for the City of London Festival this year. The ‘Mobile Orchard’ is a tree that consists of multiple layers of wood and the roots and branches offer sitting space and climbing adventure. The branches contain LED lighting that creates a cozy atmosphere in the evening. The tree holds 500 real apples, which visitors are encouraged to pluck. The shape of the tree provides shadow and is a great hang-out for visitors of the festival. Maybe it is interesting to place an art object like this in a city in the Netherlands to offer a hang-out for visitors.
Wi-Fi during flight
30-5-2013
KLM and Air France started offering on board Wi-Fi during a flight. KLM and Air France will run a pilot on board of two Boeing 777-300 aircrafts for one year. Thanks to the Wi-Fi service all passengers can use the internet through their smartphone, laptop or tablet to communicate with the outside world during the flight. Beside this, passengers can use a wide range of free services such as information about their destination and the airline or the latest news. Once the airplane is at a height of 6 km, the Wi-Fi is available. Passengers need to pay a fee of € 10.95 per hour or € 19.95 for the entire flight.
Banana Ambassador
29-5-2013
To attract more tourists to Ecuador, the Ecuador Ministry of Tourism has launched the ‘Banana Ambassador’ campaign. Bananas from Ecuador are shipped worldwide and therefore the ideal marketing tool. Each banana has a sticker with a QR-code, when someone scans the code the promotional video of Ecuador is played. After the video the website of the Ecuador Ministry of Tourism is opened. With over 24 millions tons of bananas leaving Ecuador, the campaign has a wide range. A similar promotion could be launched by cities to attract tourists, by providing the local products with a QR-code. And what would happen if we put a QR-code of Holland on every package of our tulips?
Midtown Pop-Up Hotel
28-5-2013
As a solution for the real estate crisis in Manhattan, the Copenhagen-based architects of PINKCLOUD have designed the Midtown Pop-Up Hotel. The PINKCLOUD Midtown Pop-Up Hotel is designed in such a way that it can easily transform an empty office space into a hotel. The clients can order different modules, varying from a hang-out for backpackers to luxury suites. This enables clients to create any hotel they want. The modules can easily be transported by truck and can easily be traced by the RFID tag.
Pedestrians bring tree to life
21-5-2013
The China Environmental Protection Foundation launched the ‘Green Pedestrian Crossing’ campaign to encourage people to walk instead of using the car. The organization placed a large white canvass with an illustration of a leafless tree on a busy crosswalk. Sponges with environmentally friendly and washable green paint were placed on either side of the street. Every time when someone crossed the street, green footprints became the leaves of the bare tree. As more people crossed, more leaves were created.